The number of guns owned by civilians in the United States is estimated at about 250 million. These firearms have bores or barrel tubes through which projectiles travel. As firearms operate, carbon, lead or other materials gradually form accretions on the interior of the bore. Because of its elongated shape and small diameter, there is limited access, making the bore a particularly difficult area to clean. As accretions form on the bore interior, they interfere with projectiles travelling through the bore, affecting both velocity and accuracy.
Preserving accuracy and firearm performance requires regular bore maintenance including lubricating, polishing and cleaning to remove debris accumulations. Cleaning and debris removal must be done carefully, however, as damage to the rifling lands of the bore can permanently damage the firearm. A bore from which excessive material is removed increases the bore diameter, potentially leading to casing rupture.
One common cleaning method to avoid damage uses small pieces of cloth-like material or “patches” as they are called in the art. As a user draws a patch through the bore, friction between the patch and bore interior surface causes debris to adhere to the patch, which carries it away. For this reason, the structure and composition of patches are considerably important. A patch fitting too loosely inside a bore won't clean sufficiently. A patch fitting too tightly may become lodged in the bore and users may damage the bore interior attempting to dislodge the patch.
For optimum firearm performance, there is a need for a patch that will clean evenly, not favoring one area of the bore circumference while neglecting another, and for a patch that presents the greatest cleaning area along the length of the bore interior. Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a bore patch that evenly cleans the entire bore circumference, while providing the longest contact length along the bore. Another object is to provide patches that fold uniformly in the same configuration without assistance from a user. Another object of the invention is to provide a patch that creates sufficient pressure between a jag and firearm bore to clean accumulated debris from the bore without creating enough pressure to become stuck inside the bore. These and other objects will become apparent through the appended summary, description and claims.